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MEMORIAL 



OF 



EDWARD B. DALTON, M.D. 



yo^a ^B-W Ha. I ton, 



His love si ti cere, his thoughts immaculate ; 

His heart as far from fraud, as heaven fro>ri\earfh. 



NEW YORK 

1872. 



MEMORIAL. 



EDWARD BARRY DALTON, sixth child 
and fifth son of John C. Dalton, M.D,, was 
born in Lowell, Massachusetts, September 21, 
1834. In early youth his physical organization 
Tiad an appearance of extreme delicacy, notwith- 
standing that, in bodily activity, endurance, and 
freedom from illness, he was fully equal to those 
of more robust external frame. The o-enerous and 
companionable disposition, which was afterward 
so distinguishing a trait in his character, was no- 
ticeable even in childhood, and his intellectual su- 
periority became abundantly manifest as soon as 
he commenced the more serious and practical studies 
of professional life. 

He entered the Academic Department of Harvard 
University in 1851, and passed through the usual 
course with credit, taking parts in the Spring Exhi- 
bitions of his Junior and Senior years, and at Com- 
mencement at the time of his graduation in 1855. 
In the autumn of the same year he commenced the 
study of medicine under the direction of his father, 
and entered as a student in the College of Physicians 
and Surgeons, New York ; passing his winters in 
attendance upon the lectures at the college, and 
continuing his studies in the intervals at Lowell, in 



the office of his father, who was then engaged in ac- 
tive practice in that city. After following the regular 
course of study for three years, he received the 
degree of Doctor in Medicine at the College of 
Physicians and Surgeons in 1858; his graduating 
> thesis being a treatise on "The Disorder known 
as Bronzed Skin, or Disease of the Supra-renal 
Capsules." The disease was at that time com- 
paratively a new subject, having been first made 
known to the profession by Dr. Addison in 1855 ; 
and Dr. Dalton's thesis was marked by so much 
merit and originality that it was recommended for 
publication by the Faculty of the College.* 

In March, 1858, he passed a successful competi- 
tive examination for the position of Interne at 
the Bellevue Hospital in New York, where he 
became in due time House Physician. He re- 
mained in this position until May, 1859, when he 
was appointed Resident Physician at St. Luke's 
Hospital, an institution then in the second year of 
its existence. He continued to discharge the duties 
of this post for nearly two years, until the com- 
mencement of his military life. 

At the opening of the rebellion in 1 861, he offered 
himself to the Medical Examining Board of the State 
of New York for the position of Regimental Sur- 
geon, and was at once approved by them and 
placed upon the list of medical officers awaiting 
appointment. About the same time it was found 
that a surgeon was needed to serve upon the 
"Quaker City," a steamer of 1,500 tons burden, 

* It appeared accordingly in the New York Journal of Medicine 
for May, i860. 



then recently chartered by the Union Defence 
Committee of New York, and afterward by the 
Navy Department of the United States, to cruise 
as a blockading gunboat off the capes of Virginia 
and the mouth of Chesapeake bay. Dr. Dalton 
was temporarily appointed to this post. He re- 
ported for duty on board the "Quaker City" in 
May, and served with the vessel as medical officer 
for four months, at the end of which time her 
charter expired and she was permanently attached 
to the Navy, having been purchased by the 
Government of the United States. Dr. Dalton 
then returned to New York, awaiting further 
orders. 

On the first of November he was commissioned 
by the State of New York as Surgeon to the 36th 
Regiment of New York Volunteers, then in the 
service of the United States at Camp Brightwood, 
near Washington, and at once joined his regiment, 
under orders from Headquarters of the Army of 
the Potomac. 

During the winter of 1861-62, the troops remained 
in camp about the city of Washington, occupied for 
the most part in completing their organization and in 
practicing the routine military duties of a stationary 
force. This continued until the loth of March, 1862, I 
when the entire army, under General McClellan, 
moved into Virginia toward Manassas Junction, 
and finding that post abandoned by the enemy, 
returned to the Potomac river and encamped in the I 
neighborhoDd of Alexandria. From this point was 
commenced the transfer of the army to Fortress 
Monroe, for the Peninsular Campaign. At that time 



the organization by corps had been effected. 
Dr. Dalton's regiment was in the Third Brigade of 
General Couch's Division, and formed part of the 
Fourth Army Corps, commanded by Major General 
Keyes. 

The arrival of the troops at Fortress Monroe was 
completed during the last week in March, and on 
the fourth of April the army began to move up 
the Peninsula. It remained stationary, however, 
before Yorktown, for the following month, until the 
fortifications of that city were abandoned by the 
enemy ; when the army resumed its movement up 
the Peninsula, and, with its base of supplies at 
White House, advanced to the line of the Chicka- 
hominy. The Fourth Corps was the first to pass 
this river, which it crossed on the 23rd of May. 
It continued its march on the south bank, forming 
the extreme left of the army ; and a few days 
afterward occupied the positions of Seven Pines and 
Fair Oaks, within five or six miles of Richmond. 
Here were fought the battles of May 31st and June 
1st, which, though not absolutely defeats for our 
army, yet arrested its advance, and placed it more 
or less distinctly on the defensive. During this 
time Dr. Dalton was constantly with his regiment, 
sharing in all the fatigues and hardships of the 
campaign. 

For the next three weeks the army became infested 
with sickness. The river was swollen by frequent 
rains, and the wide and marshy bottom-lands, on each 
side the narrow channel, were alternately flooded 
and exposed under a summer temperature. The 
men were employed almost incessantly in making 



intrenchments and in buildinor brldg-es and trestle- 
work, often working- for hours up to their waists in 
water. These causes soon produced their necessary 
effects, and the regimental and depot hospitals 
became filled with cases of febrile disease, many of 
which proved rapidly fatal, while the numbers of the 
sick and disabled were daily augmented. After a 
time Dr. Dalton's health also began to yield, under 
the influence of excessive professional labor and the 
unwholesome exhalations of the Chickahominy 
swamps. He continued, however, to attend to his 
duties until the last, when his strength completely 
failed, and he was prostrated by the same insidious 
form of malarial fever which had already made such 
havoc among both officers and men. On the 23rd 
of June, he was found by his friend, Dr. William H. 
Carmalt, of New York, in a tent near Seven Pines, 
emaciated and exhausted, without appetite, and 
so far under the influence of the fever that he was 
incapable of providing for his own wants, or even of 
appreciating his own dangerous condition. Dr. Car- 
malt had come to the Peninsula, with several other 
physicians, in charge of the hospital and supply 
steamboat " St. Mark," provided by the Sanitary 
Commission, and had proceeded to the army in 
order to afford any required assistance in respect 
to medical services or supplies. He at once urged 
Dr. Dalton to leave the camp, and as soon as the 
requisite authority for his removal could be obtained, 
had him transferred to the hospital ship at 
Yorktown, which afterward proceeded to Fortress 
Monroe. 

It was undoubtedly to this accidental meeting. 



and to Dr. Carmalt's prompt and friendly action, 
that Dr. Dalton owed his hfe ; as he was then so far 
reduced that a longer exposure to the same evil 
influences would, in all probability, have placed him 
beyond the hope of recovery. At Fortress Monroe 
he was met by his father, who had been notified of 
his condition, and had come from Massachusetts to 
find him. Under his father's care he sailed for the 
North early in July, and at once returned to his home 
in Massachusetts. 

As happened in many similar instances of malarial 
fever, the most threatening signs of physical pros- 
tration soon disappeared under the influence of a 
northern atmosphere and appropriate medical care. 
At the end of two or three weeks Dr. Dalton was 
evidently out of danger, but his subsequent recovery 
took place more slowly. From time to time his 
leave of absence was extended until he should become 
again able to engage in active service ; and it was 
only in the latter part of August that he had 
regained strength sufficiently to resume his duties 
as regimental surijeon. 

During this time the disastrous period of the seven 
days' battles on the Peninsula, and the retreat of our 
forces to the James River, had been followed by the 
defeat of General Pope in northern Virginia. The 
Peninsula had just been evacuated under the orders 
of the Government ; and the Army of the Potomac, 
having come by transports to the neighborhood of 
Alexandria, was hastening with all speed to meet 
the victorious enemy in Maryland. Dr. Dalton 
arrived in Washington and reported to the Surgeon- 
General on the first of September; but such was 



the confusion, from the rapid and continuous transit 
of different portions of the army, that it was difficult 
to learn the position of his own command. He 
obtained some information, however, at the conva- 
lescent camp at Alexandria, and on the following 
day succeeded in finding and joining his regiment, 
which at once proceeded on its way up the river 
and into Maryland. The regiment still belonged to 
General Couch's Division of the Fourth Corps, 
which formed at this time a portion of the left wing 
of the army. It was stationed at Poolesville, in 
the neighborhood of Conrad's Ferry, in anticipation 
of the battle of Antietam, which took place a few 
days afterward. 

While Dr. Dalton was at this post a singularly 
vexatious incident occurred to him, which illustrated 
in a striking manner the loose and reckless style 
in which a portion of the War Department was at 
that time administered. On the tenth of September 
a copy of the newspaper, which reached the camp 
of his regiment, contained a published General Order 
of the War Department in which he, with several 
other officers, was dismissed the service of the 
United States for absence without leave. This was 
the first and only intimation which reached him from 
any quarter of such a charge being in existence 
against him, nor did he receive any other notification 
of his dismissal than the printed paragraph acci- 
dentally seen in a daily newspaper. So wanton an 
outrage naturally excited in his friends the liveliest 
indignation, and Dr. Dalton himself was at a loss to 
account for it, or to form any idea of the source from 
which it had originated. He immediately took steps 

2 



lO 

to repel the charge. He left the camp at Poolesville, 
on the same day, for Washington, with the approval 
of his Division Commander, to confer on the subject 
with the Surgeon General, and at the same time 
addressed to the Adjutant General of the Army the 
following official paper, which may fairly be con- 
sidered, under the trying circumstances of the case, 
as a model of quiet and dignified remonstrance. 

Thirty-sixth Regiment, New York State Volunteers, 

September lo, 1862. 

L. Thomas, Adjutant General, U. S. Army. 

Sir: — I read in General Order No. 125, War 
Department, that I am dismissed the service of the 
United States, " for being absent without leave " from 
my command, while the army to which it belonged 
was "fighting the enemy in the field." 

Confident that the charge thus brought a^fainst 
my character is utterly groundless, and being sus- 
tained in that opinion by my commanding officers, 
both regimental and general, I respectfully beg to 
submit to your consideration the following statement : 

On the 23d of June last, while the Thirty-sixth 
Regiment, N. Y. S. V., was encamped at Seven 
Pines, Va., I became ill, and was sent to a floating 
U. S. hospital by the Brigade Surgeon, with the 
written approval of the Medical Director of the corps, 
and the regimental and brigade commanders. 

I subsequently applied for leave of absence, and 
received the same on the 7th of July, for a period of 
twenty days, through the proper medical and military 
authorities at Fortress Monroe, near which the 



1 1 

hospital ship then lay. I then went to my home in 
Massachusetts. 

On the 23d day of July I forwarded to the War 
Department from Boston, Mass., an application for 
an extension of my leave for a period of thirty days, 
accompanying the same with the proper medical 
certificate prescribed by the U. S. Army regulations, 
and signed by the Surgeon General of Massachu- 
setts, Acting Assistant Surgeon U. S. Army. 

On the 2 1 St day of August I presented myself 
at New York to William J. Sloan, Surgeon U. S. 
Army and Medical Director. From him I received 
a certificate in due form to the necessity of a re- 
extension of my leave for a period of fifteen days. 
This I immediately forwarded to the War Department. 
Surgeon Sloan also informed me that the fact of my 
not having received any reply to my previous 
application was not peculiar, and that the proper 
medical certificate was sufficient authority upon which 
to remain absent. A few days subsequent to this I 
received from the War Department a printed copy 
of an order relative to volunteer officers absent on 
leave for more than sixty days in consequence of 
wounds or of disease contracted in the line of their 
duty, stating that such would be reported to the 
Adjutant General for discharge. 

On the first of September, four days previous 
to the expiration of my leave, I reported in person to 
the Surgeon General U. S. Army, at Washington, 
and on the second to Colonel J. S. Belknap, com- 
manding at Convalescent Camp, Alexandria, Va., 
and subsequently, on the same day, to Colonel 
William H. Browne, Thirty-sixth Regiment, 
N, Y. S. V, 



12 

I have in my possession the official papers 
attesting the truth of the above. 

In view of the facts, I respectfully solicit an early 
consideration of my case at your hands, and, if I am 
entitled to it, public reparation for the disgrace which 
has been thrown upon my name. 
Respectfully, 

Edward B. Dalton. 

It might be anticipated that the War Department 

would naturally be anxious, in such a case, to make 

the most abundant reparation to a faithful and injured 

officer for the undeserved annoyance and irritation 

to which he had been subjected. This, however, did 

not appear to enter into the calculations of the 

Administration. The only public amends made in 

regard to the affair was a formal revocation of the 

dismissal, published in General Orders, sixteen days 

later, of which Dr. Dalton received the followinof 

copy : 

War Department, 

Adjutant General's Office, 

Washington, September 26, 1862. 

General Orders, No. 143. 
So much of "General Orders No. 125," as dis- 
misses Surgeon Edward B. Dalton, Thirty-sixth New 
York Volunteers, is, by direction of the President, 
revoked. 

By order of the Secretary of War, 

(Signed) L. Thomas, 
Official. Adjtitant General. 

E. D. Townsend, 

Assistant AdjtUant General. 



13 

Of the eleven officers dismissed in General Orders 
No. 125, all but four were reinstated in the same 
manner as above, the charges against them being, 
no doubt, equally groundless. 

Notwithstanding this vexatious occurrence. Dr. 
Dalton resumed his duties with his usual alacrity 
and devotion, and seldom referred to it subsequently 
in terms of complaint. 

A day or two after the battle of Antietam, the 
enemy retired across the Potomac to the entrance of 
the Shenandoah Valley. The Union forces, after 
a delay of several weeks, in the latter part of 
October also crossed the river a short distance below 
Harper's Ferry. The two armies then commenced 
a parallel movement toward the south, with the Blue 
Ridge between them, until, on the 9th of November, 
the General Headquarters of our army were at 
Warrenton, near the sources of the Rappahannock 
river. At this point the command was transferred 
from General McClellan to General Burnside ; and 
within ten days afterward the army had commenced 
and executed its rapid march, in a southeasterly 
direction, toward Falmouth and Fredericksburg, in 
order to carry out the new plan of campaign against 
Richmond, from Fredericksburg and Acquia Creek 
as a base of operations. 

Then came the extraordinary and unfortunate mis- 
understanding by which the pontoon train, required 
for the prompt passage of the river at Falmouth, was 
not forwarded from Washington, and the consequent 
failure to secure possession of Fredericksburg and 
the southern bank. The troops accordingly remained 
in position about Falmouth until the battle of Frede- 



14 

ricksburg, December 13th. At that time the Army 
of the Potomac had been organized into three Grand 
Divisions. The Thirty-sixth Regiment N, Y. V. 
was now in the Second Brigade of the Third 
Division of the Sixth Corps, commanded by General 
W. H. Smith, and was inchided in the Left Grand 
Division of the Army, under Major General Franklin. 

This portion of the army crossed the river just 
below the city of Fredericksburg, on the two days 
preceding the battle, December nth and 12th, 
holding the bridge-heads at this point until the 
commencement of the action, when they were 
expected to produce a decisive impression upon 
the enemy's right. After the failure of the general 
assault, the army retained its position on the Frede- 
ricksburg side until the night of December 15th, 
when it was withdrawn, and returned to the camps 
about Falmouth. About the middle of the following 
January it went into winter quarters, and on the 
26th of the same month General Burnside was 
superseded in command by General Hooker. 

During this time Dr. Dalton's superiority as a 
medical officer had become quite apparent to those 
associated with him, and he was soon called to 
positions of greater responsibility. On the second 
of January, 1863, he was detailed by Major General 
Smith as Medical Inspector for the Sixth Corps, and 
immediately entered upon the duties of his new 
position. Soon afterward his military status was 
permanently changed from the position of regimental 
surgeon to that of "Surgeon, United States Volun- 
teers." 

At the commencement of the war each volunteer 



15 

regiment had been provided, so far as possible, with 
a surgeon and assistant surgeon definitely attached 
to the command like other regimental officers, and 
receiving their commissions in a similar manner from 
the authorities of the State to which the regiment 
belonged. At the same time a different grade of 
medical officers was instituted, with the title of 
" Brigade Surgeon," to assist in providing for the 
general administration of the medical affairs of 
troops in the field, as well as that of general and post 
hospitals. The brigade surgeons, thus created, were 
commissioned directly by the President of the United 
States, and could thus be assigned to general duties 
in such manner as the exio-encies of the service 
might require. 

After a time it became desirable to increase the 
number of medical officers of this class. The title 
of brigade surgeon was dropped, and that of 
"Surgeon and Assistant Surgeon, U. S. Volunteers" 
adopted in its stead. The old brigade surgeons 
became at once Surgeons, U. S. V. ; and a medical 
board was convened for the examination of others 
who might desire appointment to the new grade. 
The law required that each successful candidate 
should first be commissioned as assistant surgeon ; 
after which he might be promoted to the grade of 
surgeon in due time. It was intimated to some 
of the volunteer regimental surgeons, whose services 
had been found to be most valuable, that if they 
were willing to enter the new corps with the secondary 
rank of assistants, as required by law, an early 
opportunity of promotion to the full grade of surgeon 
would be afforded them. Dr. Dalton was among 



i6 

the first who received this intimation. He accordingly 
resigned his commission as Surgeon of the Thirty- 
sixth Regiment, appeared before the Examining 
Medical Board at Washington on the 24th of 
February, and was appointed Assistant Surgeon 
March i ith, and Surgeon, U.S.V., March 26th, 1863. 
He was still retained on duty as Medical Inspector 
of the Sixth Corps, which was now under the 
command of Major General Sedgwick. 

In the early part of this year he married 
Miss Sarah Horton Colburn, daughter of Warren 
Colburn, the mathematician. The marriage took 
place at Cambridge, Mass., February 7th ; Dr. Dalton 
having arrived from Virginia the day previous. 
After an absence of twenty days he again returned 
to his post with the army of the Potomac. 

The following summer and winter were spent by 
Dr. Dalton for the most part in administrative and 
hospital service at Fortress Monroe and the 
neighboring posts. In the latter part of March he 
was ordered from the Army of the Potomac to 
Fortress Monroe, then the Headquarters of the 
Military Department of Virginia, under the command 
of General Dix. The comparative quiet of the 
service at this point was broken for a short time 
only during the summer by General Dix's demon- 
stration against Richmond. In the month of June 
the enemy left his position at Fredericksburg for the 
invasion of Maryland and Pennsylvania ; and the 
Army of the Potomac moved in a corresponding 
direction, to confront the rebel forces on the field 
of Gettysburg. At the same time our troops in the 
Department of Virginia commenced a movement up 



17 

the Peninsula, from Fortress Monroe and Yorktown. 
The expedition occupied White House, June 25th, 
and on the first of July advanced toward the 
Chickahominy river, for the purpose of threatening 
Richmond and thus embarrassing the movements of 
General Lee in Pennsylvania and Maryland. The 
battle of Gettysburg was fought on the third of 
July, and ten days afterward General Lee retired 
into Virginia. Our forces, however, continued to 
occupy the upper part of the Peninsula for several 
weeks. During this period Dr. Dalton was Acting 
Medical Director of the Army of Virginia, on the 
staff of General Dix. He provided for the medical 
supplies of the expedition, and accompanied the 
troops to White House, the extreme base of 
operations, where he remained for a short time, until 
the withdrawal of our forces from that point. 

For the next five or six weeks he was temporarily 
in charge of the Chesapeake General Hospital near 
Fortress Monroe. On the 14th of September he 
was relieved from this post and assigned as Chief 
Medical Officer to the Balfour General Hospital at 
Portsmouth, Virginia, a hospital which contained on 
the average rather more than two hundred sick and 
wounded. Here he remained durino- the followinpf 
season, with ample opportunities for learning the 
details of providing and administering a stationary 
hospital, which he afterward developed with such 
remarkable success on a much larger scale. He 
enjoyed here also the comforts of a home and the 
society of his wife, who spent the greater part of the 
fall and winter in company with him at Fortress 
Monroe and Portsmouth. Early, however, in the 
3 



next year, he found that the chmate of the locaHty, 
and the confinement and monotony of hospital hfe, 
were having a depressing effect upon his health and 
usefulness. Both his mental and bodily temperament 
required a more active employment ; and he addressed 
to the Surgeon General's Office a request for 
assignment to duty in the field, as follows : 

Balfour General Hospital, 

Portsmouth, Virginia, February 12th, 1864. 

Col. Joseph K. Barnes, U. S. x'\., 

Acting S2irgeoii General, U. S. Army. 

Colonel : I have the honor to request that, if not 
inconsistent with your views, I may be relieved from 
duty as surgeon in charge of this hospital, and ordered 
to report at Headquarters of the Army of the 
Potomac. The confinement incident to hospital 
duty, especially in a climate where I have suffered 
severely from malarial disease, is seriously injuring 
my health, while active duty in the field has not 
done so. 

Previous to my transfer to this Department, I served 
eighteen months in the Army of the Potomac, and I 
strongly desire to rejoin it. 

I am. Sir, very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

Edward B. Dalton, 

Surgeon, U. S. V. 

This request was readily granted; and in accordance 
with orders to that effect. Dr. Dalton left Portsmouth 
on the first of March, and a day or two afterward 
reported at Headquarters of the Army of the 



19 

Potomac, where he was at once assigned to duty as 
Medical Inspector. He was not at this time attached 
to any single corps, but acted as " Inspector for the 
Medical Department of the Army of the Potomac." 
He reported directly to the office of the Medical 
Director, Surgeon McParlin, from whom he received 
orders for the inspection of various portions of the 
army, and for "such services connected with the 
Medical Department, as might from time to time be 
required of him." 

The army at this time, under the command of 
General Meade, lay upon the north bank of the 
Rapidan, where it had remained during the previous 
winter, with the enemy equally intrenched on the 
south bank of the same river. In the month of March, 
General Grant was appointed Lieutenant General, 
and assigned to the supreme military command of 
the armies of the United States. On the 17th 
he assumed command, making his headquarters in 
the field with the Army of the Potomac. 

The great struggle of the summer of 1864 was 
now about to commence, by which the Army of the 
Potomac, again in close contact with its old adversary, 
was to force its way through Northern Virginia to a 
new position before Petersburg and Richmond. The 
month of April was spent in completing the necessary 
recruitment and preparation of the troops. On the 
Fourth of May the movement began. The army 
left its intrenchments on the Rapidan, penetrating 
the country immediately south of that river known 
as the "Wilderness," and moving by the left flank 
toward Spottsylvania Court House. Then came the 
series of obstinate and sanguinary encounters, begin- 



20 

ning with the battles of the Wilderness, May 5th 
and 6th, and continued almost without interruption 
by those of Spottsylvania Court House, the North 
Anna, Hanovertown, Cold Harbor, and the Inter- 
vening points, until the appearance of the advanced 
corps of the army before Petersburg, and the attacks 
on the defences of that city, June 15th, i6th, 17th 
and 1 8th. During this period there were no less 
than ten actions deserving the name of battles ; and 
out of forty-five days, twenty-seven had been days 
of more or less considerable fighting by various 
portions of the army. Never before, since the com- 
mencement of the war, had the positions on both 
sides been assailed with more determination or held 
with more tenacity ; and the number of casualties, 
both in dead and wounded, was correspondingly 
large. At the same time, the army was almost 
constantly moving in such a manner as to require 
repeated changes in its base of supplies, and of 
course also in the direction in which its sick and 
wounded were to be transported. This latter duty 
was intrusted to the care of Dr. Dalton. 

During the battles of the Wilderness he was with 
the army, occupied with the duties incident to his 
position on the general medical staff. Immediately 
afterward he was charged with the removal and care 
of all the wounded, by the following order : 

Headquarters, Army of the Potomac, 

Medical Director's Office, 

May 7th, 1864. 

Surgeon E. B. Dalton, U. S. V., 

Inspct. Medical Department, Anny of the Potomac. 
Sir — The instructions given you this morning are 



21 

SO far modified that you will accompany the train of 
ambulances and wagons on its march with this army, 
and take oreneral charge thereof as senior medical 
officer, and see that the wounded are well cared for 
and supplied in every particular so far as may be 
possible. You will keep me informed of their con- 
dition at all times. The necessities of the service 
fully require the best endeavors of the Medical 
Department to execute a most important and difficult 

duty. 

Very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

Thos. a. McParlin, 

Surgeon U. S. A., Medical Director. 

On the following day, the city of Fredericksburg 
having been fixed upon as a base, Dr. Dalton was 
directed to establish at this point the first hospital 
depot. Here he collected and placed under shelter, 
by the ninth of May, over 7,000 wounded, converting 
the city into an organization of corps hospitals, and 
providing for all the immediate necessities of the 
medical service. This, however, was but the beginning 
of the work required. The wounded from the 
Wilderness continued to be brought in, and were 
followed at once by those from the battles of 
Spottsylvania Court House, May loth, 12th and 
1 8th. Every available means was called into 
requisition for the transportation, reception and care 
of so large a number of disabled and suffering men ; 
and all the medical officers present, together with a 
large delegation of surgeons from civil life, who had 
volunteered their assistance for the emergency, were 



5^ 

abundantly occupied in performing the necessary- 
labors. At least an equal amount of diligence was 
needed for the transhipment of many of the wounded, 
and their immediate transfer to Washingfton. For 
Fredericksburg, owing to the shifting position of 
the armies, could not be a permanent depot ; and 
the wounded must not be allowed to accumulate in 
such a manner as to interfere with their safety, when 
the time for evacuation should arrive. 

On the twenty-first the army commenced its 
movement from the neighborhood of vSpottsylvania 
toward the North Anna; and the hospital trains, 
instead of beino- sent to Fredericksburg-, were directed 
t^ P ort Roy al, twenty miles farther down the 
Rappahannock river. This point was used for a 
few days as the second depot and base of supplies. 
Soon afterward Dr. Dalton received instructions for 
further movements, in the following order from the 
Medical Director of the Army : 

Headquarters, Army of the Potomac, 
Camp at Mango Hick, near Junction of North and South Anna, Va. ; 

Medical Director's Office, 

May 27, 1S64, 4.15 P.M. 

Sir — This army, by its advance, has ceased to be 
within reach or convenient use of Port Royal as a 
depot for wounded to be sent to Washington, or 
as a point from which to draw medical and hospital 
supplies. I desire that the transport vessels and 
medical purveying and supply vessels, be immediately 
ordered to proceed to White House, on the 
Pamunkey river, and that the field hospital encamp- 
ment equipage, and officers serving at Port Royal, 
be transferreci immediately to that point. 



The last trains of wounded left this army for 
Port Royal May 27th ; and no more wounded will be 
sent to, or waited for, at Port Royal after their arrival. 
I am. Sir, with much respect, 

Your obedient servant, 

Thos. a. McPaklin, 
Surgeon IT. S. A., Medical Director. 

Surgeon E. B. Dalton, U. S. Vols., 
Chief Medical Officer, 
Fredericksburo-. 



&' 



Both Port Royal and the city of Fredericksburg 
were accordingly abandoned at the same time that 
the army crossed the Pamunkey river, May 28th ; 
the wounded being all sent to Washington, and the 
medical supplies moved to White House, where the 
third depot was established, and the wounded again 
received from the army. A similar process of 
temporary hospital organization, treatment, and 
transhipment of wounded, continued here for two 
weeks, followed by another evacuation, and the 
transportation of stores and hospital material, round 
the Peninsula to City Point, the new base of operations 
reached by the army, on the south bank of the 
James river. All these movements were conducted 
under Dr. Dalton's immediate direction, and were 
accomplished so successfully, that none of the 
wounded were left behind at either point, nor any 
of the hospital property abandoned ; and the new 
hospital depot was established at City Point, almost 
simultaneously with its occupation by the Army of 
the Potomac. 






24 

It having now become evident that the main 
operations for a considerable time would take place 
before Petersburg, with City Point as a base, it was 
determined to retain the Hospital accommodations at 
that point, and to develop them on a plan commen- 
surate with the requirements of the entire army. 
This was accordingly done, under the personal 
direction of Dr. Dalton, who remained in charge as 
Chief Medical Officer; the organization itself receiv- 
ing the name of the " Depot Field Hospital of the 
Army of the Potomac." It was made capable of 
accommodating 10,000 patients, and nearly that 
number were often under treatment at the same 
time. By the month of October all its principal 
features were fully developed. The details of the 
entire operation of this department, from its com- 
mencement after the battles of the Wilderness, 
are best given in the following report made by 
Dr. Dalton in December, 1864, at the desire of the 
Medical Director -. 

Depot Field Hospital, Army of the Potomac, 
City Point, Va., December, 1864, 

Brevet Lieut. Col. Thos. A. McParlin, U. S. A., 
Medical Director of the Army of the Potomac : 

Sir — I have the honor to submit the following 
report upon the origin and development of the Depot 
Field Hospital of the Army of the Potomac, from 
May to October of the present year : 

On the 7th of May, 1864, it was ordered from the 
Headquarters of the Army of the Potomac, that all 
the wounded from the battle-fields of the Wilderness 
should be taken across the Rapidan, via Ely's Ford, 



25 

to Rappahannock Station on the Orange and 
Alexandria Railroad, and thence sent by rail to 
Washington ; and I was ordered to take general 
charge of their transportation. 

Owing to the constant and heavy demand for 
ambulances at the immediate front, a large number 
of army wagons were furnished by the Quarter- 
master's Department, to assist in the execution of 
this order. The amount of transportation, however, 
was still quite insufficient, and a large number of 
wounded were left at the various field depots, under 
the care of a few medical officers and attendants, 
provided with such shelter, supplies, and rations, 
as the emergency allowed. The train was at once 
gotten in readiness, loaded with wounded, and 
furnished with the requisite amount of rations 
and medical supplies. A few medical officers were 
detailed from each corps for the care of the wounded 
during the trip. 

The train was fairly under way when the enemy's 
cavalry was reported in the vicinity of Ely's Ford. 
An order was received to proceed no farther in that 
direction, but to turn back and follow in the rear of 
the army. This order was at once carried into 
effect, and the train followed the line of march 
during the night. 

The following day, May 8th, I received an order 
to conduct the train to Fredericksburg, Va., and 
there place the wounded in temporary hospital 
accommodations, until they could be removed to 
Washington. A suitable escort was provided, and 
the train proceeded as ordered, entering Fredericks- 
burg about one o'clock on the morning of the ninth. 
4 



26 

The churches, pubHc buildings, warehouses, mills, 
and the more commodious of the private dwellings 
were at once taken possession of for hospital pur- 
poses, and a large number of wounded officers and 
men were billeted upon such families as remained 
in town. Over 7,000 wounded, the whole number 
brought on the train, were thus placed under shelter. 
The number of medical officers and attendants was, 
of necessity, disproportionately small. Some forty 
medical officers were present. These worked most 
faithfully and steadily day and night. The immediate 
necessities of the wounded were attended to with 
very little delay, and the less pressing demands met 
with all possible dispatch. 

The absolute impossibility of preparing accurate 
records under these circumstances, makes it impossible 
now to furnish more than a report of the general 
conduct of affairs. Every effort was made to 
systematize as rapidly as possible. The organization 
adopted was by corps, corresponding to the organi- 
zation of the army. Certain buildings, with the 
adjacent district of the town, were assigned to each 
corps hospital, and the men belonging to the same 
collected, so far as practicable, within the limits of 
this district. From the medical officers present of 
each corps, one was selected as surgeon in charge, 
and the remainder were assigned to duty as assistants. 
This same organization, with some modification in 
the details, has continued up to the present time. 

The day after the occupation of the city, and for 
several days subsequently, trains of ambulances, 
containing supplies, were sent with flag-of-truce under 
charge of a medical officer to the Wilderness, for 



27 

the purpose of completing' the removal of the 
wounded. All, save a few taken by the enemy, were 
thus brought into town. 

Owing to the fact that this occupation of 
Fredericksburg, as a hospital, was entirely unex- 
pected, a day or two intervened between the arrival 
of the wounded and the establishment of communi- 
cation with Washington ; during which time the 
supply of medical and hospital stores, surgical 
appliances, et cetera, was quite limited. Ships, laden 
with everything necessary, reached Belle Plain on 
the loth of May, and wagon trains at once brought 
an abundance to the city. 

At the same time, a number of surgeons from 
civil life arrived and reported for duty, in accordance 
with orders from the Surgeon General's office. Many 
of these rendered most valuable assistance. 

Immediately upon the establishment of commu- 
nication with Washington, measures were taken to 
transfer to that city all such men as were disabled 
for more than thirty days. All the available 
transportation was used for the more severe cases, 
while many wounded only in the upper extremity 
were sent in squads on foot to Belle Plain, under 
charge of a medical officer, and there placed on 
board transports. 

Meantime the battles of Spottsylvania sent in daily 
accessions to the number in the city. In some instances 
the ambulance and wagon trains conveying these 
were unloaded at once ; while in others they were 
halted for a sufficient length of time to allow for the 
immediate wants of those on board, and were then 
sent on at once to Belle Plain. 



28 

On the 20th three hundred hospital tents arrived. 
These were distributed to the different corps hospitals, 
and were at once pitched outside the town. So many 
of the wounded as could be accommodated were 
transferred from the buildings without delay. 

On the 2 2d the repairs of the Falmouth and 
Acquia Creek railway were completed, and this 
additional means constantly made use of for the 
removal of the wounded to Acquia Landing, to which 
point the depots, previously at Belle Plain, had been 
transferred. 

Simultaneously with the opening of the railroad, 
light draught steamers reached the city by the 
Rappahannock river. These were hastily furnished 
with supplies, straw, etc., and used for the transporta- 
tion of wounded to Tappahannock, and other points 
lower down the river, where hospital transports were 
ready to receive and convey them to Washington. 

The army had now moved so far that Frede- 
ricksburg was no longer eligible as a hospital depot, 
and every effort was made to evacuate the town as 
promptly as possible. By the morning of Saturday, 
the 28th of May, the wounded were all removed, and 
all public property placed on board steamers and 
barges in tow. These dropped down the river under 
convoy of a gunboat, while the ambulances and army 
wagons moved overland, under escort of the troops 
which had been garrisoning the city during the 
occupation. By night both reached Port Royal, 
which had already been occupied as a depot, but 
was about to be abandoned in consequence of the 
onward march of the army toward the Peninsula. 
Some thousand wounded had been brought here 



29 

from the front by Surgeon A. J. Phelps, U. S. V., and 
by him sent thence to Washington. No more were 
expected ; and White House, on the Pamunkey 
river, had been designated as the next base. The 
necessary arrangements for transportation to said 
point were made without delay, and the medical 
officers, with their hospital attendants and property, 
sailed on the afternoon of the following day. Surgeon 
W. L. F'axon, Thirty-second Mass. Vols., in charge 
of the Fifth Corps Hospital, remained in charge at 
Port Royal until the departure of the last boat, to 
see that nothing appertaining to the department 
should be neglected. After thoroughly performing 
this duty, he accompanied the troops and train across 
land to the new base. 

We reached White House on the 30th, and 
immediately commenced unloading and pitching the 
tents, and preparing for the reception of wounded, 
whose arrival from the battle fields of Hanovertown 
and Cold Harbor was now looked for every hour. 
The hospitals were arranged along the river bank, in 
double echelon, extending from the former site of 
the White House some three fourths of a mile down 
the river, with a breadth of half a mile. Shelter, 
supplies, and facilities for cooking were in readiness 
when the first train reached the landing on the 
afternoon of the ist of June. 

Captain Pitkin, A. 6. M., Depot Quartermaster, 
spared no effort in affording every facility for the 
prompt accommodation and comfortable transporta- 
tion of these men. It being understood that this 
base was but temporary, every available steamer 
bound thence to Washington was immediately 



30 

provided with straw, rations, medical supplies and 
cooking apparatus, and loaded with wounded. These 
were sent under charge of medical officers detailed 
to this duty, by virtue of the pressing emergency and 
the absolute impossibility of communicating with 
headquarters for orders. Thus thousands found 
immediate accommodation upon the boats without 
even the delay of registering their names ; sufficient 
examination being given on the spot to prevent the 
escape of malingerers or deserters. 

From the ist of June to the 13th there were daily 
and sometimes hourly arrivals of trains from the 
front, the number thus received being sufficient to 
keep the hospitals full in spite of every effort to 
relieve them. 

On the thirteenth, however, the arrivals ceased. 
Information was received that the army was moving 
by the left flank to the James River, and twenty-four 
hours sufficed to send away a large proportion of the 
remaining wounded, strike the tents, and repack and 
ship a good portion of the property. At this juncture, 
Captain J. E. Jones, A.O.M., and Captain B. F. Talbot, 
C. S., reported for duty with the Hospital Department. 
The latter at once provided abundant subsistence 
stores, issued a sufficient quantity for those who must 
still remain a day or two, and shipped the remainder, 
to be taken with the first medical boat for the new 
base. Assistant Surgeon A. K. St. Clair, First 
Michigan Cavalry, was detailed to remain in charge 
at the landing, whence he successfully removed the 
remaining wounded and the stores. 

On the morning of the fourteenth a large proportion 
of the medical officers, the Commissary and the 



31 

Quartermaster, together with the Purveying Depart- 
ment and most of the hospital property, started down 
the Pamunkey, eii route for Jamestown Island in 
the James River, which had been designated in your 
letter of June 12th, as the probable rendezvous until 
further orders, A temporary delay was occasioned 
at Yorktown by the great reluctance of the captains 
of the purveying steamers " Planter," " Farmer," 
and " Hugh Jenkins," to proceed. Their objections 
were however overruled, and we reached Jamestown 
Island on the afternoon of the fifteenth. Here, orders 
were received through you, to proceed to City Point 
and there establish the hospital depot. 

On the sixteenth, on reaching the pontoon bridge 
near Fort Powhatan, we were delayed by the crossing 
of cavalry and the cattle. Surgeon Phelps, however, 
succeeded in getting above the bridge by means of a 
small boat, and thence by tug to City Point, where 
he located a site for the hospital. 

We finally reached our destination at City Point 
on the eighteenth, just as a train of ambulances 
arrived, loaded with wounded from the assault upon 
Petersburg. These were at once attended to, and 
transportation to Washington provided for them, 
hospital transports being loaned for the purpose by 
Surgeon McCormick, U. S. A., Medical Director of 
the Department of Virginia and North Carolina. 

The hospital property was at once unloaded and 
conveyed to the site selected, and there put in 
readiness as rapidly as possible for the reception of 
wounded, who still continued to come in in large 
numbers. The site, which is the one still occupied, 
is located to the south of the James River, one mile 



32 

from City Point toward Petersburg. It is situated 
upon a broad plain, extending from the Petersburg 
pike to the high bluffs overlooking the basin of the 
Appomattox, just at the junction of the latter river 
with the James. 

The plan of the encampment, which still remains 
essentially unaltered, was mainly devised by Doctor 
Phelps. Some irregularities occurred in its execution, 
in consequence of the embarrassment of laying out 
the camp and erecting tents, at the same time that 
the presence of wounded called constantly for 
professional labor. By means of pontoons, two 
temporary wharves were soon constructed at a 
convenient point, a short distance up the Appomattox. 
These were for the exclusive use of the hospital, 
and were used respectively for the landing and 
issuing of supplies, and for transferring wounded to 
the hospital transports. 

The services of the transports were immediately, 
and, for a time constantly, In demand. Two of these, 
the " Connecticut" and the " State of Maine," were 
of sufficiently light draught to be able to come 
alongside the wharf The " De Molay " could reach 
the mouth of the Appomattox, and was there loaded 
by means of lighters. The " Atlantic," " Baltic," 
and " Western Metropolis," came no farther than 
Fort Monroe, or Newport News, and were there 
loaded by transfer from the "Connecticut" and 
" State of Maine." All rendered efficient service, 
especially the " Connecticut," which has been, 
throughout the campaign, remarkable for the prompt- 
ness and energy displayed in her management. 

The purveying department met all necessary 



^2> 

demands with promptness and liberality. Nothing 
really essential to the care of the wounded was 
wanting. Bedsacks and blankets were supplied 
without stint, although, for a time, bedsteads were 
dispensed with, except in the severest cases ; a 
large proportion of the patients being placed upon 
sacks, amply filled with straw, and arranged upon 
the ground beneath the tents. None were without 
shelter. Drugs and dressings in abundance, hospital 
stores, ice, and even delicacies, were constantly issued. 
Cooking stoves, caldrons, and portable ovens, were 
on hand in sufficient quantity for any emergency. 
Requisitions received prompt and full attention at all 
times. But a short time elapsed before the arrival 
of an abundant supply of bedsteads, when sheets 
and pillow-cases were at once made use of in all cases 
where they could essentially add to the comfort of 
the patient. 

The capacity of the hospital was rapidly increased, 
until it became capable of accommodating ten 
thousand patients. At first these were mainly 
wounded ; but, as the season advanced, and the 
prolonged duty in the trenches told upon the men, 
the proportion of sick became greater. Each 
successive engagement would fill the beds with 
wounded, but these, especially the severely hurt, 
were sent north as rapidly as possible ; while the sick, 
as a general rule, were removed only when the 
character of the case rendered a change of climate 
essential to recovery. 

The entire encampment now covers an area of 
some two hundred acres, and is composed of twelve 
hundred hospital tents. The latter were at first 
5 



34 

pitched in groups composed of two tents and an 
intervening fly, placed end to end. These groups 
are arranged in rows, side by side, divided by lateral 
interspaces of fifteen feet in width between the 
individual groups. The ends of the groups abut 
upon streets sixty feet wide, running parallel with the 
river and meeting at right angles a main avenue one 
hundred and eighty feet in width, which extends from 
the verge of the bluff, directly through the centre of 
the camp, to the Petersburg pike. Since the approach 
of cool weather, an entire tent has been substituted 
for the intervening fly, in each group. 

Shortly after the establishment of the hospital at 
this point, works were constructed by the Quarter- 
master for supplying the encampment with water. 
Two steam engines, of four horse-power each, were 
placed at the foot of the bluff, at the edge of the 
river, whence they force water into a tank capable 
of containing six thousand gallons, which is raised 
thirty feet above the level of the bluff and supported 
upon a strong wooden trestle work. From this 
tank a conducting pipe of two inches in diameter 
descends to the ground, and is then conducted, at a 
depth of eighteen inches below the surface, along 
the main avenue. At right angles to this main pipe, 
smaller ones diverge at intervals, and enter the various 
divisions of the hospital, where, at the extremity of 
each pipe, is a hydrant. These works, which were 
completed on the sixth of July, have proved entirely 
satisfactory. An abundance of river water was thus 
supplied for laundry, bathing, and other coarser 
purposes. Wells were dug in various parts of the 
hospital, and these, with numerous springs in the 



35 

vicinity, afforded a plentiful supply for drinking and 
cooking. 

For several weeks subsequent to the arrival at 
City Point, no rain fell ; and the accumulation of dust 
became a source of the greatest discomfort. Bodies 
of troops and wagon trains were constantly passing 
along the main road ; and the dust thus disturbed 
was borne in dense clouds over and through the camp, 
filling the tents and penetrating even the bedclothes. 
This matter was represented at the Surgeon General's 
Office-, and sprinkling carts applied for. Eight of 
these were promptly sent down from Washington, 
and were immediately and constantly made use of 
They afforded great relief, not only in subduing the 
dust, but also in moderating the intense heat of the 
atmosphere. As an additional means, high, broad 
bowers were built continuously along the ends of the 
tents, on each side of the streets. 

For purposes of drainage, each group of tents 
was surrounded by a trench, eight inches in depth. 
From these trenches, the water is conducted into 
ditches, which run parallel to, and on each side of, 
the streets, and terminate, by means of still larger 
ones, in various irregular ravines with which the 
ground is broken, and which descend rapidly to the 
river. This system has proved entirely effectual. 

It is impossible, by merely quoting the register, to 
convey an accurate idea of the number of sick and 
wounded who have received attention in this hospital. 
At Fredericksburg, at White House, and still later 
at City Point, hundreds passed through under 
circumstances which rendered it impracticable to 
register their names, or even to accurately estimate 



36 

their number. These instances occurred during, or 
immediately subsequent to, an engagement ; when 
the accumulation of wounded, and the constant calls 
for professional labor, sometimes made it necessary 
to transfer at once from the ambulances to the 
hospital transports. In fact, as I have already stated, 
so unremitting were the professional duties of the 
medical officers during the first fortnight at Fred- 
ericksburg that it was impossible even to prepare 
morning reports ; and it was not until the sixteenth 
of May that even a numerical report was attempted. 
From that date to the present, daily reports have 
been forwarded; and they show that from the i6th / 
of May, 1864, to October 31st, 1864, there have 
been received into this Hospital, and retained here 
under treatment, for at least forty-eight hours, 68,540 
sick and wounded, officers and men. Of these, 
48,613 have been transferred to the various U. S. 
general hospitals at the north, and 10,706 have been 
returned direct from this hospital to duty with their 
commands. One thousand four hundred and ninety- 
six have died. 

A vast number of the wounded had, when received 
here, already suffered amputation, or other capital 
operations, at the immediate front ; while in a 
great many other cases similar interference was still 
necessary. The experience here has given the most 
convincing evidence in favor of primary operations 
in gunshot wounds. 

The majority of the sick, received during the 
summer, have suffered from dysentery, diarrhoea and 
malarial fevers. A small proportion of cases of 
typhoid fever have occurred, and a very few, com- 



Z1 

paratively, of pneumonia and milder diseases of the 
chest. The manifestations of malarial influences 
have, as a general rule, been of a mild character, 
and evidently owing- in great measure to the 
prolonged exposure and hard service to which the 
men have been subjected in the trenches. In fact, 
very many of these do not properly come under the 
head of either of the recognized classes of malarious 
fever, but were rather cases of a depressed condition, 
not inaptly expressed by the term " malarial malaise." 
A large proportion of these recovered rapidly and 
entirely under the influences of rest, cleanliness, 
and good nourishment, together with the moderate 
administration of quinine and iron. A number of cases 
have arisen within the limits of this encampment, but 
not in sufficient number, or of sufficient severity, to 
impair the efficiency of the hospital, or to throw any 
doubt upon the propriety of its establishment and 
continuance. On the contrary, the numbers who 
have recovered and been returned to duty within a 
few weeks after their admission, and without removal 
to a distance from the seat of war, have proved 
this site a most eligible one. 

I am, Sir, very respectfully. 

Your obedient servant, 

E. B. Dalton, Surgeon U. S. Vols., 

Chief Medical Officer. 

It was the successful establishment and adminis- 
tration of this hospital, on a scale much surpassing 
any other which had been attempted in the field, that 
won for Dr. Dalton the unmingled commendation and 
confidence of his superior officers. He had the 



38 

peculiar talent of doing his work in an easy, and at the 
same time a thoroughly efficient manner. His control 
over officers and men was absolute ; yet exercised in 
such a way as to be eminently agreeable, and to bind 
his subordinates in a sentiment of friendship and 
regard. He inspired all under his charge with a 
genuine desire to perform their duties in the most 
creditable manner ; and the general feeling in the 
hospital camp was that of a spontaneous desire to 
work for the common interests of the service, rather 
than a compulsory subjection to the will of the chief 
officer. It was only in rare instances that severity 
was needed to enforce discipline or efficiency, though 
at such times the offender immediately felt the full 
pressure of a rigid authority. The result was seen 
in the harmonious and successful working of the 
entire organization. 

Dr. Dalton continued in charge of this hospital 
throughout the summer and winter of 1864-5 ! until 
the moment arrived when the last great blow was to 
be struck against the defences of Petersburg. On 
the 25th of March, 1865, he was relieved from duty 
at the Depot Field Hospital, and assigned as Medical 
Director of the Ninth Corps. This corps was under 
the command of Major General Parke, and held the 
rio-ht of the Union lines, on the east and south-east 
of the enemy's works. The main assault took place 
on the morning of April 2d ; and on the 3d, the 
enemy having evacuated their works and abandoned 
the city and their capital, thus rendered untenable, 
the corps marched into Petersburg and took 
possession of the place. The same afternoon it 
continued its march, following the more advanced 



39 

corps ; and at the time of General Lee's surrender, 
on the 9th of April, it occupied the line of the 
Lynchburg railroad. 

Dr. Dalton, who was with the corps throughout, 
reached Burkesville, a station about fifty miles west 
of Petersburg, on the 7th, and at once established 
the corps hospitals at that point. Here he had not 
only charge of the sick and wounded of his own 
corps, but also received and provided for all those 
coming from the front and en route for City Point ; 
to whom were now added the still larger numbers of 
disabled rebel prisoners passing in the same direction. 
For the successful managfement of the affairs of his 
department, both at the time of the assault on 
Petersburg and subsequently, he received special 
commendation in the Reports of both the Medical 
Inspector and Medical Director of the Army. He 
continued to be engaged in these duties until the 
19th, when the corps moved for City Point and 
embarked for Washinofton. On their arrival he was 
assigned as Chief Medical Officer at the depot hospital 
at Alexandria. 

The war was now practically over, and Dr. Dalton 
was one of the first of the volunteer officers to 
retire from military life and resume the occupations 
of peace. He tendered his resignation to the 
Adjutant General on the 24th of April, 1865, for the 
reason " that, as the necessity for volunteer medical 
officers in the army was no longer pressing, he 
wished to turn his attention to private business." 
His tender of resignation was approved by the 
Surgeon General, with the indorsement that 
" Surgeon Dalton's entire service has been marked 



40 

by devotion to the duties of his position, and under 
all circumstances he has displayed professional zeal 
and ability in an eminent degree. It is respectfully 
recommended that, upon acceptance of his resig- 
nation, he receive the thanks of the War Department 
for meritorious services." 

This recommendation was more than carried 
out; and on the 15th of August, 1865, although 
Dr. Dalton's resignation had already been accepted, 
he was successively appointed by the President, for 
"faithful and meritorious services," Brevet Lieutenant- 
Colonel and Colonel of Volunteers. Thus ended his 
connection with the army, which had begun at the 
first outbreak of the Rebellion, and had continued, 
through all the vicissitudes of that trying period, till 
the final re-establishment of the national supremacy. 

Dr. Dalton at once formed his plans for engaging 
in the practice of his profession. After spending 
the summer months in a needed interval of rest and 
recreation, he came to New York in September, 
1865, and established himself there ; being associated 
in medical copartnership with one of his oldest and 
most valued friends. Dr. George A. Peters, of that 
city. This professional association continued for 
several years, and was the source of the highest 
gratification to both parties. 

A short time, however, only elapsed before 
Dr. Dalton was again called to assume duties of a 
more executive character. In February, 1866, the 
Legislature of New York created the " Metropolitan 
Board of Health," for the preservation of life and 
health, and to prevent the spread of disease within 
the Metropolitan Sanitary District. This district 



41 

embraced the cities of New York and Brooklyn, 
the towns of Newtown, Flushing and Jamaica, on 
Long" Island, and the adjacent counties of Richmond 
and Westchester. 

In order to carry out effectually the intentions 
of the Commissioners, and to provide for the prompt 
enforcement of their regulations over so extensive 
and populous a district, it was important that its 
medical supervision should be intrusted to an officer 
of tried faithfulness and ability. Dr. Dalton's pre- 
vious services had shown him to be eminently 
qualified for such a position. He was accordingly 
appointed at the third meeting of the Board, 
March 5th, 1866, its chief executive officer, under 
the title of Sanitary Superintendent. His duties in 
this post were to " execute, or cause to be executed, 
the orders of said Board, and generally, according 
to its instructions, to exercise a practical supervision 
in respect to the inspectors, agents, and other 
persons " acting under the authority of the Board, 
and to make reports to the Board, weekly or 
oftener, " stating generally his own action and that 
of his subordinates, and the condition of the public 
health in said district, and any causes endangering 
life or health that have come to his knowledge during 
said period." 

For the first few weeks his time was fully occupied 
in acquiring information as to the actual sanitary 
condition and needs of the Metropolitan District. 
An inspection corps was organized, consisting of 
twenty-four sanitary inspectors and thirty-seven 
assistants, each of whom was assigned to a specified 
district, and required to make semi-weekly reports 
6 



42 

of anything- therein requiring the attention of the 
Board of Health. 

The labors and responsibility of the organization 
were soon greatly increased by the epidemic of 
Asiatic cholera, which appeared in New York on the 
first of May, and continued until the middle of 
October. During this time two public cholera 
hospitals were established in New York and two in 
Brooklyn, to which three hundred and eighty cases 
of cholera were admitted. Much the larger number 
of patients, however, were attended and cared for 
at their homes ; and as at the height of the epidemic 
there were in the city of New York from twenty-five 
to thirty new cases each day, nearly all of which 
were dependent for examination and treatment on 
the Medical Inspectors of the Board of Health, great 
diligence and devotion were required to meet the 
emergency. Dr. Dalton's influence was abundantly 
felt in the promptitude and activity manifested in the 
entire department, and in the ready and harmonious 
co-operation of all its officers. 

The security of the public, however, during the 
epidemic of cholera, was only one of the temporary 
objects contemplated by the Board of Health. Its 
purpose was to efiect a permanent improvement in 
regard to a variety of matters detrimental to the 
public health ; and the next two years were devoted 
to the accomplishment of these designs. 

The most important improvements effected in this 
way were the removal of the numerous slaughter- 
houses then existing in the densely built portions 
of the city, with all their accompanying evils of 
cattle-driving, transportation of offal, and the like, and 



43 

their concentration in large abattoirs situated at a 
distance from the centres of population ; — the 
correction of offensive and deleterious emanations 
from the various gas-works, which had become a 
serious and almost constant source of danger and 
discomfort throughout the city ; — the more effectual 
cleansing of the streets, then performed in an 
exceedingly negligent and imperfect manner ; — the 
amelioration of tenement and school-houses, and 
increased provision for the comfort and health of 
their occupants ; — and the rectification of many 
deficiencies in the sewerao-e and drainao^e of streets 
and dwelling-houses, A Bureau of Disinfection 
was also established, by means of which localities, 
found to be immediately dangerous to the health of 
the neighborhood, were at once placed in a condition 
of cleanliness and safety.* 

During the second year of the existence of the 
Board, 35,000 inspections were made and reported 
to the Sanitary Superintendent, over 4,000 drains 
and sewers were built, cleansed, or repaired, nearly 
10,000 dangerous places were disinfected, and more 
than 100 offensive or deleterious manufactories 
discontinued. Beside this, many improvements 
were effected in a variety of ways, owing to the 
accuracy of the information acquired in regard to 
existing evils, and the prompt and faithful manner 
in which the necessary remedies were applied. It 
was a kind of occupation for which Dr. Dalton was 
peculiarly fitted, and which brought out all his 

* The most complete account of the design and operation of the 
Metropolitan Board of Health, is given in an article, written by 
Dr. Dalton, in the North American Review for April, 1868. 



44 

valuable qualities as a superintending and executive 
officer. 

During the year 1868, however, his position 
became less satisfactory. The constitution of the 
Board of Commissioners had now changed, by the 
retirement of some of the original members, who had 
been foremost in establishino- its character as a 

o 

public benefit, and whose presence had been a 
guarantee that its legitimate objects would be 
carried out in a thoroughly upright and effective 
manner, irrespective of any other considerations than 
those of the public welfare. This was no longer the 
case. It was evident that political and partisan 
influences had been introduced into the Board, which 
became of greater weight than the impartial execution 
of public duty. Dr. Dalton found that he was 
expected and desired to allow these political 
considerations an influence in the manner in which 
he should administer the office of Sanitary Superin- 
tendent. 

Such expectations could only meet, from him, 
with an absolute and contemptuous refusal. As he 
found, accordingly, after a time, that he was no 
longer in sympathy with the majority of Commis- 
sioners who controlled the policy of the Board of 
Health, he determined to sever his connection with 
it, and devote himself fully to medical practice. He 
continued to discharge the duties of the office until 
an acceptable successor could be obtained, and finally 
resigned his position in January, 1869. 

During this time he had also been engaged, to 
some extent, in other professional work. His clear 
judgment, and ready method of imparting his ideas, 



45 

qualities of the highest value in a medical teacher, 
led him into connection with his Alma Mater, the 
College of Physicians and Surgeons. He was 
Clinical Assistant to the Professor of Practical 
Medicine in this institution, and Lecturer on Diseases 
of the Nervous System in the summer session. He 
was Visiting Physician to the Sheltering Arms, and 
to the Orphans' Home and Asylum, two of the 
private charitable institutions in the city, and was also 
Associate Physician to the New York Hospital for 
Paralytics and Epileptics. 

This cheerful and happy period, during which he 
was engaged in constant and congenial occupation, 
was shadowed, however, by the loss of his only 
child, an infant daughter, who died in the summer 
of 1868, after a short illness, at the age of a little 
less than one year. 

In the summer of 1869 he received a sudden and 
severe blow in the death of his wife, to whom he 
was devotedly attached, and whose death took place 
in the most unexpected manner, and under 
circumstances of peculiar sadness.* For some 
months previously his own health had been in a 
precarious condition, owing, as he believed, to 
occasional returns of his old malarial difficulty. 
Soon after his wife's death, however, he fell seriously 
ill with an attack of latent pleurisy, which became so 
severe as to disable him entirely ; and his recovery 
from this attack was marked by one or two relapses, 
which gave his friends much additional anxiety. 

During the whole of this illness he remained at his 

* She died of hemorrhage, from placenta previa, at the time of con- 
finement. 



46 

brother's house, in Massachusetts. Although in the 
course of the autumn his strength became partly 
re-established, yet it was evident that the effects of 
the pleurisy still lingered, and that they could be 
dissipated only by a considerable period of care and 
rest. By the advice of his physician. Dr. J. Nelson 
Borland, he abandoned for a time the idea of resuming 
active business, and in the following February sailed 
for Europe, where he took up his residence at Pau, in 
the south of France. 

The mild climate of this resfion was at first 
favorable to him ; but early in April he was again 
prostrated by a malarial attack, which for some weeks 
threatened to be fatal. He recovered from it, however, 
with his usual elasticity, and, after spending the 
summer in travelling through Switzerland with one 
of the members of his family who had gone out to 
meet him, he returned home in October, much 
improved, and ready to resume the practice of his 
profession. 

He had already determined to leave New York 
and establish himself in Boston, where two of his 
brothers resided, and where he had many and warm 
personal friends. His professional relations in this 
new field at once became most aoreeable and 
satisfactory. He was appointed Visiting Physician to 
the Massachusetts General Hospital, and Instructor 
in Theory and Practice in the Massachusetts Medical 
College. These employments, so fully adapted to 
his taste, beside the steadily increasing circle of 
his private practice, in a location surrounded by his 
family and friends, seemed to promise, at last, a 
gradual abatement of his mental disappointments, 
and a future of comparative happiness. 



47 

But his physical condition proved to be such that 
he could not bear the climate of the Atlantic coast. 
The cough had never entirely left him since his first 
attack ; and, notwithstanding every precaution, he 
was liable to the recurrence or exaggeration of 
symptoms which could not exist without danger. 
During the summer of 187 1, these symptoms 
increased to such an extent, that it became evident 
both to himself and his friends, that he could not 
remain where he was with the slightest prospect of 
recovery. He took the determination to abandon, 
temporarily, his professional business, and to try for 
some years, the climate of California ; trusting to 
an out-door life in that milder region to reinstate 
himself thoroughly in a condition of efficiency and 
health. He started, accordingly, for California in 
the month of October, in company with his friend 
and companion of many years, Dr. Foster Swift, 
who was going, with his family, in the same direction. 

DurinQT all this time nothinor could exceed the 
fortitude and cheerfulness with which he bore the 
succession of his trials, disappointments, and suffering. 
Of all the admirable qualities that belonged to his 
nature, none commanded the respect and sympathy 
of his friends more than this. With his family, his 
business, and his health destroyed, with a new 
home and new prospects just established and again 
abandoned under the same imperious necessity, he 
was now turninor his face to the Pacific coast with 
the deliberate intention, as the best result, of living 
there for several years, with a new occupation, new^ 
acquaintances, and new interests, to be separated 
from his former home by the breadth of the con- 



48 

tinent ; — and this, after all, with broken health and 
a doubtful prospect of success. And yet there were 
no vain regrets, no lingering hesitation, no self-pitying 
complaints. He thought always first of his friends, 
and last of himself He would not allow his own 
want of cheerfulness to add to the anxiety of others, 
and at every period during his illness his presence was 
a source of encouragement and not of depression. 

But this unyielding resistance and buoyancy of 
disposition was destined to be its own sole reward ; 
for the malady which had been following him for 
three years, was now too firmly fixed to unloose its 
hold, and the wanderer was never to return to his 
Eastern home. F or the first few months after his 
arrival in California he again felt the beneficial 
influence of a new atmosphere and a mild and 
bracing climate. His strength and spirits improved, 
and after visiting various parts of the country, he 
fixed himself in the neighborhood of Santa Barbara, 
on the southern coast, where he nearly completed 
his arrangements for the purchase and management 
of a farm. 

But early in the following spring his health again 
failed ; and the renewed symptoms, accompanied 
with some suffering, speedily reduced his strength 
beyond the possibility of recovery. Still cheerful 
and confident to the last, he bore with ready fortitude 
every pain and discomfort inseparable from his 
illness, and yielded up his life with the same quiet 
and unassuming constancy that he had always shown 
in the performance of its duties. Fortunately, he was 
surrounded, during the last few weeks of his life, by 
members of his own family, as well as by the friends 



49 

who had been with him heretofore. He died on the 
evening of Monday, May 13th, 1872. 

His character was a rare combination of the gentlest 
and strongest quahties. A refinement without the 
trace of blemish, an instinctive sense of honor and 
integrity which simply knew no other path to follow 
than the right one, as unhesitating in the smallest 
particulars as in the greatest; an unusually generous, 
unselfish and unsuspicious nature, but with an 
instantaneous perception of deceit or insincerity in 
others ; remarkable gentleness and courtesy of 
manner, with an inflexible determination in the 
execution of his duty, whatever it might be, were the 
main elements in his disposition. His capacity for 
organization and command was exercised without 
display, and made itself felt more by its results than 
by its immediate operation. His mental superiority 
and professional acquirements were of the same 
unobtrusive character. He never seemed a laborious 
student, and yet he always occupied the foremost 
rank among his medical associates, and was equal to 
every demand upon his professional knowledge or 
skill. He seldom conversed upon the most serious 
topics of human life ; but when he did so, his 
expressions showed that none of them had been 
omitted in his thoughts, and that his convictions were 
equally removed from indifference and presumption. 
I Above all, his friendship was unwavering, and his 
/ sincerity without the shadow of a change. Such 
were the traits by which we knew him. 
7 



(Drgmihatioii oi^ tljc Depot Jielt) Cjospitals, 

ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, 
t/i December, 1864. 



CJiief Medical Officer. 
Edward B. Dai.ton, Surgeon U. S. V. 

Exectttive Officer, in Office of Chief Medical Officer. 
James Collins, Asst. Surg. U. S. V. 

Medical Inspector. 
John M. Kollock, Surgeon Fiftieth Regiment, P. V. 

Medical Director of Transportatioji. 
Morris N. Asch, Asst. Surg. U. S. A. 

Qitartennaster. 
Captain James E. Jones, A. Q. M. 

Commissary of .'Subsistence. 
Captain Benj. F. Talbot, C. S. 

Second Corps Hospital. 
Geo. B. Parker, Surgeon, U. S. V., Surgeon in Cliarge. 
Noah M. Gladfelter, Asst. Surgeon, U. S. V. 
John Aikin, Acting Staff Surgeon, U. S. A. 
John F. Myers, " " " " 

G. C. Terhune, Acting Asst. Surgeon, U. S. A. 
G. W. Jewessox, " " " " 

Daniel Mann, " " " " 

Sam'l J. Miller, " " " " 

Fifth Corps Hospital. 
WiM. L. Faxon, Surg. 32d Mass. Vols., Surgeon in Charge. 
Herman Loewenthal, Asst. Surgeon, U. S. V. 
L. D. Brainard, Acting Asst. Surgeon, U. S. A. 
L. G. O'Connor, '• " 

Sixth Corps Hospital. 
J. Sykes Ely, Asst. Surg. U. S. V., Surgeon in Charge. 
T. K. Johnson, Acting Asst. Surgeon, U. S. A. 
John Fee, " " " " 

Joseph D. Steward, " " " 

Joseph Taylor, " " " 

Ninth Corps Hospital. 
Wm. O. McDonald, Surg. U. S. V., Surgeon in Charge. 
Ferdinand Axt, Acting Asst. Surgeon, U. S. A. 
J. K. Burkholder, " " " " 

J. Lunney. " " " " 

John H. Comfort, " " " " 

James Miller, " " " " 

Cavalry Corps Hospital. 
Thomas R. Pooley, Asst. Surg. U. S. V., Surgeon in Charge. 
Joseph E. Harned, Acting Asst. Surgeon, U. S. A. 
Prosper Bender, " " " " 



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